The cooler weather at this time of year makes me want to head for the north-east Victorian hills — specifically Dartmouth Dam or the rivers and streams.
This is the time to fish for trout as they feed up, getting ready to breed. We have around six species of trout, but the main two are brown and rainbow.
The brown trout were imported from Europe, and the rainbow trout are from North America.
Trout eggs were packed in moss and shipped out; the idea was to provide sports fishing in this country.
These days, there is some natural breeding, but trout numbers are augmented with breeding and restocking programs.
Governments, angling clubs and private individuals conduct these.
In fact, there is a closed season on the taking of trout in some rivers and streams.
There is a requirement to have a current fishing licence and to be aware of size and bag limits.
The average trout size is around 500g, but they can grow up to 10kg. Trophy-sized fish can be found in Lake Hume and Lake Eildon. The average big fish in rivers can be two or even three kilograms.
Trout feed on insects, larvae, worms, etc; they will also take various artificial lures. Minnow-style lures are popular at this time of the year, and bladed lures and some soft plastics are, too. The most popular baits are mudeye, the larvae of the dragonfly, and both garden and shrub worms. One bait out of left field is oysters — certainly an expensive option.
You can fish from either the bank or a boat. If you choose a boat, you can either angle from a stationary position or troll; this is best done at a speed slightly faster than walking pace.
If you troll, you may choose to use just a lure on its own or in conjunction with a Ford Fender, which is a bladed attractor. The blades, as they flash around, fool a trout into thinking that these are other fish and it then wants to get a piece of the action.
The open waters of Dartmouth, Eildon, Lake Hume and Lake Buffalo are places where boat fishing is at its best; the same rig and method of fishing work well at all of these places, using a fender trailing a bait or lure.
As you have noticed the temperatures are dropping. While trout were biting in the early morning and late afternoons into dusk, they are now extending to the middle of the day as the trout extend their feeding, giving anglers more time to fish for them.
This, of course, applies to the lakes. Trout fishing in the rivers and streams differs, as trout tend to be in the deep holes in the rivers. There, they are prepared to take a bait or lure at any time of the day.
It’s the tail end of cod season, with cod still on the bite in both the Goulburn and Murray rivers and the other usual haunts, even Eildon, where you can fish for cod all year with no closed season; however, size and bag limits still apply.
Now to saltwater fishing. Down south at Queenscliff, Rod Lawn of Adamas Fishing Charters said he was enjoying the best fishing for this time of the year for some time. Snapper, whiting, salmon and flathead were among the catch, and cod was in plentiful supply.
Rod said he was looking forward to the next few weeks of angling.
He said in the deep off Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads, he was catching trevalla. He said they were related to the New Zealand blue-eye and were all around three or four kilograms. He said there were also tuna schools in the region, but these were proving tough to catch.
He said there were still pinky snapper along the reefs and flathead off the sand. Speaking of tuna, Rod noted the main run of southern bluefin tuna was set to commence in three weeks or so, and schools should start to gather around Portland.
In Western Port Bay, there were schools of pinky snapper at the edges of the rubble beds along the shipping lanes; there were also flathead on the sandy bottom and whiting among the inshore grass beds.
In the deep water off San Remo and Phillip Island, gummy sharks were biting on the run-out tide. The best bait was fresh salmon fillets, slimy mackerel and small whole squid.
North of the border at Eden, John Liddell said the crew at Freedom Charters had been bagging plenty of snapper and morwong.
Along the inshore reefs, the best action was around Green Cape, near the Victorian border. Gummy sharks and big flathead were caught in the deep water.
John said the indifferent currents meant bait fish were not around, leaving slim pickings for tuna.
With the school holidays under way in NSW, a trip to Narooma would be worthwhile. Graham Cowley said that he was bagging heaps of kingfish around the northern end of Montague Island. The shelf is close in around Narooma, but the inshore reefs were worth fishing with similar results. Graham said there were also good-size flathead on the sand and inside the lake around the oyster beds.
Well, that’s all for this week. Remember to stay safe on the roads and the water when boating — and get a flu shot.